Not feeling very bloggy...

Hey Sweet Friends. I sat down, actually having a little time to blog - both boys are down and Andy's working on his truck and it's NOT midnight - and there's nothing I feel like blogging about. I haven't put ANY Christmas pics up. Actually, I started to, and I couldn't narrow down the pics; had about 20 to post, but uploading was SOOO slow that I quit that post. Maybe that's killing my blogginess - impatience with my computer (do you all have that problem uploading pics - only 5 at a time?). (We did have a wonderful Christmas, by the way...)

Anyway, I tried posting pics of time at the park today. After about 30 minutes - multiple tries, saying it would upload, then timing out, I gave up. Sorry, no pics. Will work on this...

Jake loves feeding the ducks, but Max wasn't so sure. He wanted to eat the bread himself and cried when the BIG goose pecked at his hand for it. The ducks' quacking was loud and he just kind of stood in amazement watching them. He did have fun on the "wee" (playground). Good to get some fresh air today.

Love Comes Out in Our Words

I get these devotionals from a pastor in the Houston area (thank you Meredith!) and they are always so wonderful. I don't like to sign up for lots of long e-devotions that I'm not going to make time for - have done this before. But these are short and so poignant:

Loving Your Neighbor

Love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:39


What does it mean to love your neighbor? What does love look like in our daily lives?

Love is radically other-centered. It is a most unusual preoccupation with other people and their needs, instead of being preoccupied with yourself and your needs.

Love listens. You listen because you care. You listen because you really want to understand. When someone is listened to, and they feel understood and cared for, well that is just about the most powerful thing on earth. Love listens.

Love serves. Love is always asking, “How can I serve him? How can I help her? What needs does he have? Does God want to use me in her life?” Love is always looking to serve. Love is forever grabbing a towel and a basin, and washing feet. Love serves.

Love is kind and gentle. Love comes out in our words. It comes out in our voice. There is a gentleness, a kindness, a patience, a tenderness. Our words are not harsh and abrasive. They are not demanding and impatient. They are not sharp and strident. Love is kind and gentle.

This is love. This is how to love your neighbor. It is simple though it is not easy. God can give you grace. Fill up with his love, and then let it spill over.

This hit me like a ton of bricks as I read this after an afternoon/evening of being impatient and frustrated with my kiddos. Oh, is it hard to maintain the patience! I take that back - in my own strength it's hard, but when I've been in prayer and listening to the Spirit's leading His patience flows out. Whew! Lord help me - my words are so often "harsh and abrasive, demanding and impatient, sharp and strident" with my kids, especially the strong-willed one. :) Amazing that God led me to this this evening - his grace gently rebukes and corrects - at the perfect time. Thank you Jesus. Also amazing that God loves us with this kind of patience too. wow. Hope this encourages you too...

(These Monday, Wednesday and Friday devotional e-mails are written by Jeff Wells, Senior Pastor at WoodsEdge Community Church. To hear our weekly messages or to find out more about WoodsEdge please go to www.woodsedge.org.

© 2009 WoodsEdge Community Church. All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced for any non-commercial use with proper attribution.)

I LOVE to see comments!

My cousin-in-law (right, Tricia?) Tricia posted this button and I like it too. If you visit my site, let me know! It's fun seeing who's out there. In case you're not sure how, you just click at the bottom of the post where it says how many comments there are: "163 comments." A-hem. Type in a 'hello' and your name and email - don't even think you have to have a google account. Not sure. And only your name will appear with your comment.

Thanks and love!

My Harmonica Dad & Son

A big part of who I am has to do with my amazing dad (I love you Dad!), who happens also to be an incredible harmonica player. I loved growing up seeing and learning what I did because of my dad and his music. Jim (my brother) and I grew up with Dad always playing (practicing) while driving down the road, amplifiers throughout our house, travelling to cool places for gigs (sometimes getting backstage star treatment), and lots of education about musicians like Toots Thielemans and Muddy Waters.

Even though I was used to my dad's playing, I've always had an appreciation for what he could/can do. There are several songs he plays (one of them below, "Use Me Up") that I love. I remember being a little girl walking with him in the woods in Tennessee (right, Dad?) LOVING hearing him play "Mercy, Mercy." I've heard it so many times, but never get sick of it. It's a good song, but it's more because of my dad playing it. It sounds cheesy, but my heart swells with pride every time I hear him play on stage.

Unfortunately, I never got interested in any instrument, although my brother is - he's an amazing guitar/bass/whatever-he-wants-to-play player...

And I didn't even know this was out there (shouldn't be surprised), but I found a few videos of my dad and his buddy Smokey Logg on YouTube:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK2ue1kc9Mo (couldn't embed this one)

Needless to say, we have a few used harmonicas laying around the house. My sweet Max has taken it up a bit:

Can you hear the loud in and out blowing? He loves it...

Blowing through the side - doesn't work as well.

Hands-free...

Thank you, Dad, for your many gifts to me. I love you.

You Have Really Big Glasses

...from my blogging "friend" (strange how you get to know people through blogging that I would never normally meet...) Missy's blog, "It's Almost Naptime!!". She posted this...HA!!



Did you like Tears for Fears? :D

I've been reading...

I heard about this on Focus on the Family's radio program a few months ago. This woman, Maria Hirschmann (nickname, Hansi) grew up in a Christian home in Germany, but as a teen was swept away by the Nazi movement before WWI and joined the Hitler Youth program. I heard her speak on the radio (elderly lady then, not sure if she's still alive) -- fascinating story of how she was brainwashed by Hitler, then disillusioned when the war was over, her incredible survival and escape of the labor camps, and finally her return to the Lord. Now she has some kind of ministry...haven't gotten to that part yet.

So unlike me to sit down with an autobiography (I usually stick to books on prayer, marriage, parenting, etc.), but OH! it's been so interesting. Fun when you just want to sit down any free minute and read what happens next! If you're interested, Focus on the Family sells it...

Adventures in Wal-Mart

Ok, have you noticed how expensive groceries have gotten?! We go once a week and we used to be able to leave spending less than $100. Now, that's SO much harder. It seems like every week it's $115 -- crazy for a small family of 4! So, Sunday we went and we really tried to cut back (this is probably obvious to some of you); we bought the big thing of Great Value applesauce instead of the little cups, and big cans of pears instead of cups, bag of frozen (bone-in..ugh) chicken thighs instead of fresh boneless, skinless, etc. We bought a full week's worth of groceries (6 meals + snacks, drinks, etc.) for about $83. I was relieved.

One thing that was hard to give up was my bottled water. I used to not buy them, but but have gotten in the habbit. I'm the only one who drinks them (Andy takes a travel mug to work and drinks right out of the jugs at home... j/k :D -- only sometimes) but it's so much easier to grab those on the way out the door or whatever. So, I bought a good big (PINK!) plastic sports bottle to refill. Maybe it will help me drink more...?

Also, have you seen how yummy and ripe the avacados and peaches are right now? I don't usually buy either, but they were both perfectly ripe so I grabbed a few of each. Andy and I shared a peach last night and we agreed it was the best ever.

Back to Wal-mart: while I was putting peaches in a bag, I heard Jake say, "Uh-oh...." He was touching plums nearby and accidentally poked his finger through one. (I guess they were really ripe too!) I showed Andy and we decided to have him confess to the produce man and apologize. Andy picked up the wounded plum and he and Jake headed to where an older hispanic fella was working. Then, he started walking away and they had to follow him back through the gray double doors. Andy said that Jake confessed ("I broke this"), apologized and the man said, "that's okay, just don't do it again" and again, "that's okay." Andy said the man recognized it as a teachable moment. On the way out Jake kept saying, "I will NEVER do that again!" It was good. You could see his wheels turning as we talked to him about confession and honesty a tiny bit. Those concrete examples always make for better teaching opportunities, you know?

Anyway... I wanted to add a little stock picture of something applicable, but I'm not quite that saavy. Hints?

Neat Blog

My friend Mommy of 5 has a link on her blog to a blog that I read a lot. It's so good! This old post was listed as a favorite and it really encouraged me. Long, but encouraging and inspiring. Love you mommy friends!

Hope Missy at Almost Naptime doesn't mind! :S

http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2007/12/how-was-your-thursday.html